Hearing aid assembly adapted for head wear



Aug. 4, 1953 J- C- STALC-UP HEARING AID ASSEMBLY ADAPTED FOR HEAD WEAR Filed Aug. 5, 1949 BY/Ag ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 4, 1953 HEARING AID ASSEMBLY ADAPTED FOR HEAD WEAR Josephine 0. Stalcup, Rogers, Ark. Application August 5, 1949, Serial No. 108,839 4 Claims. (Cl. 179-107) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in instruments used as hearing aids and more particularly to improvements in the manner of wearing and mounting such hearing aids.

In general, this invention is concerned with hearing aids of the electrically operated type including a transmitter, batteries and either air conduction or bone conduction receivers. However, the invention is more particularly concerned with the relatively small type of such hearing aids wherein the batteries and the transmitter are connected as a unit when assembled and, with this in mind, the invention is directed to the formation of the casing structure and to the mounting thereon on the body of the wearer.

Persons who are unfortunate in having defective hearing and require the assistance of some type of hearing aid, are naturally concerned with the inconvenience of having to carry such a hearing aid with them at most times. Often the battery case and transmitter are separate units connected by relatively long electric leads and separately mounted or carried at various parts of the body clothing of the wearer. Even where the battery case and transmitter can be concealed with certain types of clothing, the electric leads remain at least partially in view and often present an unsightly appearance. The small unitary hearing aids can, of course, be concealed more easily but the electric leads remain in view. Furthermore, even with this type of hearing aid, certain types of garments, such as bathing suits, athletic wear, womens sheer and fitted dresses and the like, do not lend themselves to concealment of the hearing aid without some measure of destroying the appearance of the garment. Persons using hearing aids, and perhaps more particularly women, quite naturally endeavor to conceal the various parts of the instrument but this is not always possible without detracting from the personal appearance of the wearer. For men, too, particularly during athletics, it is desirable to have as much freedom of body movement as possible but the mounting of a hearing aid on the clothing of the wearer is often a great hindrance.

With the above in mind, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a hearing aid which is constructed and arranged to facilitate the concealment thereof and to further reduce static when in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the mounting of the hearing aid on the head of the wearer in order to eliminate the long friction creating electric cord between the ear piece and the transmitter with resultant reduction of static when the instrument is in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for conveniently mounting the hearing aid across the top of the head of the wearer or across the back of the neck at the base of the head.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a casing for the hearing aid which conforms to the curvature of that part of the body of the wearer to which it is to be attached and wherein there is provided a securing strap or the like for holding the hearing aid in position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a mounting for a unitary and combined hearing aid which conforms to the body surface where attached and which includes a holding strap fitted in the mounting so as not to protrude from the conforming surface thereof.

The invention still further aims to provide a hearing aid substantially of the above type which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, and which can be readily applied and secured in position.

The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out. p

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the hearing aid in position on the top of the head of the wearer;

Figure 2 is a similar perspective view but showing the hearing aid in position at the nape of the neck of the wearer;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the under surface of the hearing aid with the strap holder;

Figure 4 is a side elevation showing a hearing aid with a modified form of mounting therefor.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawing, and particularly to Figure 1 at this time, the hearing aid is shown applied across the top of the head of the wearer. The illustrated instrument is of the type wherein the transmitter and batteries are enclosed in a single casing which may be suitably compartmented for the transmitter and the batteries and which has a lid or cover l2 permitting access to the batteries for replacement thereof as needed. There is provided the usual off-on switch I4, as Well as the volume control switch It, both at the transmitter end of the casing. The details of these switches as well as the battery and transmitter assemblies are omitted as not necessary for understanding of the present invention and as being conventional except that there may be a slight angular relaentire hearing aid assembly is arcuate to snugly fit the body, as the head, of the wearer. This conforming curvature of the assembly assists not only in the mounting thereof but also in concealing the same under some appropriate hair arrangement. By mounting the assembly across the top of the head of the wearer or across the nape of the neck, it is possible to utilize a minimum length of electric cord connection l8 be' tween the transmitter and the ear piece, in this instance shown as an air conduction receiver 20. This shortened length greatly reduces frictional disturbances with resultant reduction of static to a minimum and with increased efficiency in operation even with this small type of composite hearing aid. The mounting means for the instrument may assume various forms but for simplicity, only one such form has been illustrated and will be described below.

As illustrated, there is provided an arcuate strap 22 which may be formed of a suitable plastic material, a bone material or, if desired, a resilient metal or metal composition. Plastic or bone material may be furnished in color to match the color of the hair of the wearer, thus further assisting in the concealment of the hear- I ing aid. The material must, of course, have sufficient resiliency to grip the wearers body with firmness to maintain the instrument in position but without discomfort to the wearer. The curvature of the strap 22 more or less follows the contour of the body surface of the wearer to which it is to be attached and closely follows and coincides with the curvature of the adjacent surface of the casing [0. This strap may conveniently be secured to the casing in suitable manner as by loops 24, 24a struck from or otherwise associated with the under surface of the casing and these loops may be lined with rubber or the like to prevent static disturbance in the operation of the instrument. This type of securing means may be employed for securing the instrument across the nape of the neck, as in Figure 2, but additionally and for variety, a ribbon, nylon tie or sheer scarf may be employed around the head to hold the instrument with a tying bow as a cover for the ear piece, if desired. I

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 4 and reference is now made thereto. In this form of hearing aid assembly, a conventional type of composite instrument may be associated with a special form of support which is contoured to engage the body surface of the wearer with the same advantages noted above. The casing [0a houses the transmitter and the batteries and the cord IBa leads to the ear piece. In this assembly, the casing is straight throughout and in order to adapt it for fitting the head of the wearer, a support 26 is provided. This support has a flat outer surface 28 to which the casing is suitably secured, and a concavely curved inner surface 30 conforming to the adjacent body surface of the wearer. This support may be formed of any suitable material, such as a plastic or the like, and may be provided with a longitudinal groove 32 extending centrally along the inner curved face thereof. This groove is adapted to receive a holding strap 22a so that the central portion thereof does not protrude beyond the surface of the support into contact with the head of the wearer. Adjacent the ends of the support, cross pieces 34, 34c span the groove and serve to hold the strap 22a in place. The hearing aid may be secured to the support in any suitable manner, as with tightly drawn rubber bands or a U-shaped clip 36 engaging the outer surface of the casing and the under surface of the support at the center thereof, or the support may include side flanges to dovetail with projections on the casing,

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a compact hearing aid assembly which may be conveniently mounted on the head of the wearer and substantially concealed from view, particularly by the hair when worn by women, although it is also concealed from view with persons wearing a hat. The connection between the hearing aid and the resilient holding strap is such that the instrument may be shifted along the stra to various positions depending upon the particular hair arrangement of the person wearing the same. The location of the transmitter on the head of the wearer, and thus close to an ear, makes it possible to utilize a very short length of cord between the transmitter and the conduction receiver, thus substantially reducing static which is primarily caused by increased friction of the conventional longer cords. Additionally, as shown in Figure 2, the instrument may be housed in a scarf 38 or the like when positioned along the nape of the neck of the wearer and the scarf may be tied at the top of the wearers head or otherwise as desired Here again the instrument may be concealed from view by the hair arrange- ,ment but in close proximity to the cars so that a short cord may still be employed.

While certain forms of the invention have been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An electric hearing aid comprising, in combination with a receiver, a support in the form of easing means for battery and transmitter, said casing means including a concave supporting surface to snugly fit the head of a wearer, arcuately disposed mounting means connected to said casng means and extending outwardly therefrom to engage the head of the wearer, a transmitter cord projecting from said casing means in substantial conformity with the contour of the head of the wearer when the hearing aid is positioned on the head of the wearer and generally following an arcuate path similar to the concave supporting surface of said casing means, and electrically connected with said receiver whereby a minimum length of cord is required and with the major portion thereof disposed within the distance between the ends of said mounting means and above the neck of the wearer so as to reduce static normally occasioned by clothing moving over such cord.

2. An electric hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting means includes a curved relatively rigid but resilient strap forming with the supporting surface of said casing means a substantially semi-circular assembly for resiliently gripping the head of the wearer and wherein the mounting means is secured to said casing means for relative adjustment therebetween.

3. An electric hearing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing is supported on a base which includes a fiat body portion engaging the casing and depending side walls curved to snugly fit against the head of the wearer.

4. An electric hearing aid as claimed in claim 3, wherein the base is provided with a recess and wherein the mounting means is in the form of an arcuate strap fitting in said recess to permit selective positioning of the casing.

JOSEPHINE C. STADCUP.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number D. 148,697

Number Name Date Hubbard Aug. 3, 1880 Macdonald Dec. 12, 1882 Rutherford Jan. 8, 1901 Marvel Aug. 11, 1925 French Oct. 8, 1929 Nicholides Dec. 1, 1936 Gordon Feb. 7, 1939 Liss May 2, 1939 Craig Nov. 14, 1939 Cox July 16, 1940 Lieber July 15, 1941 Perlman May 18, 1943 Shapiro Aug. 17, 1943 Tresise et a1. July 22, 1947 Mafiris Feb. 5, 1952 

